Bicycle

We woke up to super heavy dew this morning, making you almost think that it had rained. Keree spent most of her day climbing up and down the stairs. Sometimes she wanted to be upstairs where I was working and sometimes she wanted to be downstairs where my Mom was working. In the late afternoon, we ended up running to Michaels because it's the only arts and crafts store open on Sunday. Of course, like usual, they didn't have what we needed. After we didn't find what we needed, we decided to stop by the grocery store in hopes of finding a few ingredients for the menu we have planned for Tet Trung Thu. Of course, they also didn't have basic Asian ingredients we needed. So I'm guessing a trip to the small Asian market in town is on the list for the beginning of the week. After we got home and had dinner, Keree and I went outside for a short time. We put air in the tires of her new to her bike (this one fits her so much better) and she practiced riding it up and down the sidewalk. The funniest thing she did was her training wheels would get stuck on higher ground, leaving the tire freestanding. So she could pedal super fast and not go anywhere. She would just laugh and laugh about it...and I have to say it was pretty darn funny watching her little legs go. Once the mosquitoes started biting we headed inside. We spent the evening watching Independence day (Keree's choice because it has aliens in it).

First Game

This morning, we got a slow start but was able to hit a subdivision yard sale. It was actually a little disappointing because out of 300 houses, only about 30 were participating. Out of those 30 houses only about 10 of them didn't have broken, stained items or junk. Since the bike I got yesterday didn't work for Keree (it's too small). Amazingly, we happened upon one yard sale that had a Little Mermaid bike that was bigger than the one from yesterday and smaller than her current bike. But they also had $8 on it, so I asked them if they would come down in price. They just looked at me, so I just go "will you take $3 for it?" and amazingly they said yes. I also scored two vtech games (wiggles and sesame street) for $3 a piece. The last sale we stopped at, we got a large Little Tikes workbench with tools for $2, 4 pairs of shorts, 6 pairs of jeans, spiderman hooded sweatshirt and some random shirts for 25 cents a piece. So I think we had a pretty good day of garage sales. When we got home, we quickly ate lunch and then laid Keree down for a nap. Luckily she took one, even though it was just for about a 1/2 hour. When she woke up, we quickly got dressed for Keree's first game to cheer at. She was so super excited and she looked so freakin' cute in her uniform. Of course, we arrived about 5 minutes before 3p (when the girls was suppose to arrive). The Coach was suppose to be waiting there at 245p and like usual she wasn't there. The Coach didn't show up until almost 315p and the game started at 330p. They were suppose to hold up a banner and the football players were going to run through it but of course she didn't get her stuff together and didn't even think about it until after the game had already started. Then she wanted the girls to hold the banner and she expected the game to stop, so they could run through it. UGH! I'll just say this again, I love the program, I just don't like the way the Coach is handling things. And more than anything, Keree had fun cheering and that's all that mattered. The game went quickly, it could have been because our team was getting slaughtered. When it was half time the girls performed their half time routine. Of course, the Coach decided to mix it up right before they performed, it was almost like she wanted to set them up to fail. Even though the transition of their moves wasn't that smooth because of the "mix it up", they still all got in their correct spots quickly and it still looked great. After half time, they got to return for a short time with their parents, it was only suppose to be until the time was up, but instead the Coach decided that the girls didn't need to Cheer during the entire 3rd Quarter. Then when the girls finally did go back down to the track to Cheer, she let them run around for most of the time (luckily Keree stayed in ready position instead of goofing off) because she was busy texting on her phone. Then the other time, she spent yelling at her 2 yr old son. I seriously couldn't believe it. I think they performed one cheer during the entire 4th Quarter. But again, I just had to get reminding myself that Keree was having fun and she was with her friends. Once we got done, we headed home, fixed a quick dinner and since Keree was exhausted, she was in bed by 8p.

Apple Picking & Cheer

This morning, after we got up, I took Keere to pre-school. I knew she wasn't spending the whole day since the new Homeschool group's field trip started at 11a. I'm not sure what the summary said that they did because Keree was outside playing with her class when I came to get her. But Keree did say they learned how to balance a apple on her head. While Keree was in school, I ended up hitting a neighborhood yard sale. There was only about 5 houses participating but I did get a new smaller bicycle which I hope will work better for Keree. I paid $3 for it. I got 5 pairs of lacy panties for cover-ups underneath Keree's dresses for 25 cents. I also found 3 pairs of jeans, 1 dress and 2 long sleeve tops for Keree for $1. Now the biggest find was the Fisher Price Imaginetex Castle, Pirate Ship and Skull Island along with a huge bag of people and accessories for $5. I couldn't believe that's all they wanted for all these awesome toys. Keree still hasn't seen them and I'm trying to decided if I'm going to save them for one of Keree's Christmas presents. So after I picked her up, we hurried to the Orchard to meet up with our group. We arrived just in time because they were about to serve lunch. They gave each of us a sack lunch, I couldn't believe how much food was in one of the sacks, a ham & cheese sandwich, frito's, carrots, apple, juice and milk. Since, I'm not a big meat eater, I snacked on the carrots out of both Keree and I's lunch. Keree ate her ham and cheese which she dipped in mayonnaise, drank her carton of milk and ate a few carrots, which she also dipped in mayonnaise. After lunch was finished and bathroom breaks were taken, we then headed over to hear the presentation. But first we took a group picture, which I'll have to ask the coordinator for a copy of it. When the presentation started, it seemed the Lady presenting it dumbed it down. She said that bees visited the blooms and got magic dust on their legs. It was so funny because after hearing this Keree looked at me and said within ear shot of the Coordinator "Mom isn't the magic dust called pollen?" I was just so utterly proud in that moment! And the Coordinator seemed thoroughly impressed with the answer. After the presentation, we then headed over to wait and catch the tractor out into the field. It was miserable, it was close to 98 degrees and we were in direct afternoon sun and it took the tractor almost 45 minutes to get there and pick us up. When we finally got on the tractor, I swear the whole group was ready to just go home. We got out to the Orchard and had to walk almost 12 aisles in before we finally got to some apples. I tried to convince Keree to pick the green apples because they are my favorite but she wouldn't have any of that. Since we both had a bag, she insisted that both bags be filled up with red apples. Luckily, I did get to put a few green apples in there. We ended up coming home with about 40 + apples and can't wait to start cooking with them. After our bags were filled, we headed back on the tractor to the picnic area. There we each got a glass of apple cider. Keree ended up drinking not only her's but also mine. We then said our good-byes to the group and spent some time exploring the play are by our self, which is something we missed out on before lunch with the group. She played on the submerged tractor, ran through the covered bridge and we finally ended up by the animals. Most of the animals were inside but the Llamas and Goats weren't. Keree made quick friends with one Mama Goat. Now, Keree asked me to pet the goat, of course my hands were full with 2 big bags of apples, a purse, the camera and of course Keree's half eaten apple. Well I didn't even get very close and next thing I know the goat had snatched the half eaten apple out of my hand and was happily munching away. I tried to get the apple back but there was no way. After she had finished, she came back to let Keree pet her, actually I think she was eyeing the bags of apples in my hands. The funniest part was when suddenly the Goat turned her head towards Keree and Keree screamed "You can't eat my shirt!" After that, Keree was pretty through with the animals, so we started the long walk back to the parking lot to head home. Keree ran through the covered bridge, tried to ride the tricycles and finally we played for a short time in the Gigantic apple. Once we got back to the car, we started the long drive home. Once home, Keree laid down for a nap right away. We were going to do school but our school books are still lost from our trip to Ohio. This evening, Keree had cheer practice. Because it seemed like everyone was running late. Keree and two other girls started working on the banner to be used at tomorrow's first home game. When practice finally did start, their main focus was the half time cheer and dance. Since part of the girls weren't there, it made it hard for them to practice their stunt, which made me nervous because Keree is the one being lifted up. I can't even count how many times they did the cheer and dance but their practiced lasted till a little after 8p. So it was over 2 hours long. But I have to remember Keree was having fun and that's all that mattered. She so enjoyed being with the other girls and helping make the banner. After practice was done, I ran by the grocery store for a special treat. So for a special dessert tonight, we enjoyed a bowl of banana ice cream before heading to bed.

Thursday

About 2am, I started gagging in the middle of the night. I was so exhausted that I didn't know what was happening but I was loud enough my Mom heard me. She came in to check on me and she said all she could think was I wasn't going to get up, instead I was just going to vomit all over myself. It wasn't until I couldn't breath, that it finally snapped me awake enough. Needless to say every stomach muscle I have, hurts! When the alarm went off, I didn't want to get out of bed. Keree was still fast asleep next to me (we are co-sleeping again) and I honestly could of just rolled over and went back to sleep. So I dragged myself out of bed, scrounged up some clothes. Got Keree and myself dressed and out the door. After dropping Keree off at school, it was off to the store because I was in desperate need of safety pins and of course, they just have to be in the same aisle as the ribbon. I tried to be strong but I did walk out of there with some ribbon (it was half-off). Which I can justify buying since I sold over 400 hairbows this past weekend or at least that's what I tried telling myself. When I went to pick Keree up from school, the summary said that they celebrated Nyre's 5th birthday with a special treat, read the book Happy Birthday and answered the question if they liked the apple crisp they ate yesterday or not. While we walked out the school door, the cell started ringing. It was the Homeschool coordinator. We had been waiting to hear back if we had been accepted or not after our file had went to committee (that's been weeks ago). I knew that this was the first week of school, so I was starting to think we weren't accepted. Instead she called today, apologized and said we had been accepted. We scheduled our first meeting for next Thursday and then she told me our first field trip is tomorrow. I was a little shocked but after some rearranging of our schedule, we will be going to the Orchard tomorrow. Since I was so exhausted and didn't feel like cooking, we stopped by Papa Murphy's for lunch/dinner. We had never been there before because I was perplexed by why would you want to go to a kind of fast food restaurant and pick up a uncooked pizza? Well we got the chicago stuffed pizza and I can see why people go there all the time. It was delicious and super filling. We ate the pizza for Lunch and Dinner and we still have half a pizza left for tomorrow. After we ate, we were going to do our next lesson but I can't find our books. I know I took them to Ohio/Kentucky and I know they were in the car when we came home. But I can't find where in the house they got carried in at. So instead of our reading lesson, we worked on some addition before trying to get Keree to fall asleep for a nap. Instead she ended up fighting it and being as exhausted as I've been, I ended up taking a half hour nap. This evening, with such nice cool weather, we headed outside to do a few chores. While out there, Keree enjoyed playing, she rode her bike, rode the sit n spin, played on her swing set and I also took her for a wagon ride. Keree then decided since she saw a few leaves, she needed to try out her rack she got for her Birthday. Since the lawn mower had ground up the leaves, she couldn't rack them into piles and it was quite hilarious watching her try. Once the mosquitoes started biting, we headed inside. Keree went to bed early and I'm trying to catch up on emails and this blog. But since I'm tired, I'm headed to bed.

Back to Real Life

I have to say it's been really nice being away from home and honestly I really didn't want to come home. Things always seem simpler when you are away. This morning after dropping Keree off at school, I came home to work on a few things. Needless to say the time zone change, lack of sleep during the past week and mainly stress is kicking my butt. I'm exhausted. When I went to pick Keree up the summary said that they baked apple crisp and then voted if they were going to eat inside or outside. They choose outside and had a picnic. They read a book called Apple Pie takes you around the world and also learned a few new songs about apples. When Keree came out, she couldn't wait to show me the picture she drew. The picture was of Uncle and ours house, herself and a mean bad guy who doesn't like the sun. When we got home, we ate lunch and then my Mom and Keree laid down for a nap. I worked on printing tags for the kids consignment sale. I volunteered to work a shift on Friday and also drop off my items. I feel so unprepared for it and usually I make anywhere between $850-$1000, which at this point I'm pretty sure that isn't going to happen this time. It also didn't help that anytime I sat for a long period of time, I would start to doze off. Man, I'm exhausted. This evening, I kept waiting for the Cheer Coach to cancel because it looked like rain, but they didn't. This evening they learned a new cheer, which also involves a stunt. They lift Keree up and she stands on two other girls legs and then does a high V. It took them almost the entire practice to even get comfortable enough to perform half-way decent. But when they finally pull it off, it's gonna be awesome. Because the Cheer Mom is going to be gone, two of us other Mom's stepped forward to help out. So I am Cheer Mom the week of Sept 27-Oct 4. I'm pretty sure I could just feel the excitement from the Coach that I was going to help out. Ha,ha. Afterwards we headed home, watched the finale of America's got Talent and Keree headed to bed. And that's where I really need to be since I can barely keep my eyes open.

Trip Home

We got up early this morning to try and find a place to rid my Brother's computer of it's virus. Luckily, there was a place less then 2 miles from his house. We got there right as it opened at 10a. We paid the extra money for them to put us on top the list and get the computer done by hopefully Noon. So since we had some time to kill, we ran to the local mall in search of a radio shack. We had forgotten the charger for the cell phone and couldn't risk the trip home without a phone. While we were there, we also visited TCP and scored a brand new pair of light weight footed pajamas for Keree for $1.99. Since we had some more time to waist, we ran into Claire's and found their 10 for $10 area. We got my two Cousins their Christmas presents, so I was pretty happy they were marked off the list. It was almost Noon, so we headed back to the Computer Store, well they weren't done and said another 20 minutes. So Keree and my Mom went inside since Madagascar was playing on the big screen tv. I ended up staying in the car in hopes of catching a short nap before heading home. Well I know I woke up several times, mostly because I would really start getting hot. So I would take a sip of water and fall back asleep. When I finally woke up, I realized my Mom and Keree was finally standing up at the counter and I could see my Brother's computer. I couldn't believe that it was after 3p at that point. So we drove back to my Brother's house, hooked up his computer and then finished the last of the packing. Which meant loading up the roof rack. I swear it took us forever but we were on the road shortly after 5p. I was so exhausted and so was my Mom and Keree, but there was no way we could spend the night again. Keree was so good on the drive home, she ended up falling asleep about 5 min after we left and she ended up sleeping almost 2 hrs. Once she was awake, she watched her movie player and when she finally got restless the last hour of the trip. We sang with the Wiggles cd we have in the car. I normally despise the Wiggles but I have to say, after a 6 hr trip and your almost a sleep, it does a very good job of waking you up and keeping you going. We got home a little before 1am. Keree was fast asleep in her own bed within 10 minutes of getting home.

Unexpected Extra Night in Ohio

Well today, we were suppose to get up bright and early and start the trip home. Well, my Mom decided my brother needed a few things, so we ran to the store. Since Keree had been so good the whole weekend, she got to pick out one toy from the Dollar store. Of course she went nuts when she saw the truck because it had the emblem on it where Uncle works. Plus it also made racing engine sounds. Once we got back to my Brother's house, we packed the last of our stuff and as we were leaving, my Mom tripped. She twisted her body and almost fell into my Brother's liquor cabinet with all his expensive glass wear. I was really of no help, other than I threw my hand out and caught my Mom's head, thus saving the glass wear. Because my Mom was in no shape to travel after her fall, we called my Brother to see if we could stay another night. So as a thank you for letting us stay, I fixed dinner for all of us. I haven't had pork chops in so long, so that's what I fixed, along with some roasted potatoes in olive oil and garlic topped with chive sour cream. Of course, our extra day/night couldn't be without some drama. While checking email, I unknowingly opened an email from our Cousin that contained a virus. I tried to run anti-virus but before we knew it, it had infected the whole system. So my Brother spent his evening at first trying to fix his computer but when that didn't work, we ended our evening playing with Keree and watching American Pickers.